New Zealand Birds

DSC_6797 Stoat (Mustela erminea) male with predated orange-fronted parakeet. Stoats were introduced into New Zealand in 1884 (to control introduced rabbits) and have now become a most difficult pest to control. Orange-fronted parakeets are as rare as kakapo and vulnerable to introduced predators such as ship rats and stoats - particularly during irruption years following mast seeding events. Orange-fronteds are restricted to four beech (Fuscospora spp.) forest valleys in the South Island: the Hawdon, Andrews and Poulter valleys in Arthur’s Pass National Park and the south branch of the Hurunui valley in Lake Sumner Forest Park *